California-headquartered Palomar Holdings Inc, the parent company of island-based Palomar Specialty Reinsurance Company Bermuda Ltd, has reported net income of $4.3 million for the third quarter of the year.

That compares with net income of $0.2 million for the third quarter of 2021.

Adjusted net income was $7.4 million for the quarter as compared with $1.7 million for the same period a year ago.

Gross written premiums increased by 66.2 per cent to $253.1 million compared with $152.3 million in the third quarter of 2021.

Palomar had a total loss ratio of 39.6 per cent compared with 44 per cent in the same period last year.

A combined ratio of 94.8 per cent compares to 102.8 per cent in the third quarter a year ago.

The annualised return on equity was 4.6 per cent, compared with 0.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2021.

Losses and loss adjustment expenses for the third quarter were $30.9 million including $18.4 million of non-catastrophe attritional losses, and $12.5 million of catastrophe losses from Hurricane Ian.

The expected losses from Hurricane Ian also result in additional ceded reinsurance premium of $3.1 million, with $1.3 million recognised in the third quarter of 2022 and the remaining $1.8 million recognised over the remaining term of the June 1, 2022 reinsurance treaty.

Mac Armstrong, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “I am very proud of our third quarter results as they are a further testament to our commitment to profitable growth and our execution of Palomar 2X – our intermediate term strategic plan of doubling our adjusted underwriting income while achieving a 20 per cent adjusted return on equity.

“We grew the gross written premium of the business by 66 per cent, and despite incurring a full retention loss from Hurricane Ian, we generated an adjusted ROE of ten per cent when adding back realised and unrealised gains and losses from our investment portfolio. The quarter’s results validate the resilience of our model as the business grew adjusted net income by 328 per cent from the prior year.”

Palomar Holdings Inc is the holding company of subsidiaries Palomar Specialty Insurance Company, Palomar Specialty Reinsurance Company Bermuda Ltd, Palomar Insurance Agency Inc and Palomar Excess and Surplus Insurance Company.